--- title: Resisting Deficit Mindsets & Cultures in Education description: Explore how resisting deficit mindsets in education can enhance student outcomes, focusing on neurodivergent students of color and fostering a culture of belief and possibility. image: https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/hubfs/Resisting%20Deficit%20Mindsets%20and%20Cultures%20in%20Education.png --- [![RCS 2025 Logo\_Final V1-1](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/hs-fs/hubfs/RCS%202025%20Logo_Final%20V1-1.png?width=200&height=200&name=RCS%202025%20Logo_Final%20V1-1.png "RCS 2025 Logo_Final V1-1")](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com?hsLang=en) - [About](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/about-us-1?hsLang=en) - [Our CEO](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/our-ceo?hsLang=en) - [Our Team](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/our-team-1?hsLang=en) - [Services](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/services1?hsLang=en) - [Case Studies](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/case-studies?hsLang=en) - [Center for Civic Education](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/center-for-civic-education-case-study?hsLang=en) - [Innovageous](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/innovageous-case-study?hsLang=en) - [The Innovative Learners](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/innovative-learners-case-study?hsLang=en) - [Resources](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/resources-1?hsLang=en) - [Revealing Curricular Barriers Webinar](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/revealing-curricular-barriers?hsLang=en) - [Realized Curriculum Audit](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/realized-curriculum-audit?hsLang=en) - [My Child Has A Disability E-Book](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/where-do-i-start-ebook-1?hsLang=en) - [Podcast Appearances](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/podcasts?hsLang=en) - [Blog](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/realize-endless-possibilities) - [Contact](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/contact-us-1?hsLang=en) close close Search - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ![Bright Realistic Classroom With Stressed Teachers](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Bright%20Realistic%20Classroom%20With%20Stressed%20Teachers.png) - [Home](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com?hsLang=en) - [Blog](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/realize-endless-possibilities/resisting-deficit-mindsets-cultures-in-education) # Resisting Deficit Mindsets & Cultures in Education ## Resisting Deficit Mindsets & Cultures in Education - September 30 2026 - Leroy Smith, M.Ed. ![Blog Details](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/hubfs/Resisting%20Deficit%20Mindsets%20and%20Cultures%20in%20Education.png) *“When educators believe students are competent, students tend to perform better; conversely, when educators believe students have deficits, students tend to perform more poorly.”* (Eric Jensen, 2013) # The Struggle Is Real As educational organizations settle into their fall programs, this is the time of the year educators, tutors, and educational leaders begin to experience disillusionment. This disillusionment does not just magically appear out of nowhere; it is rooted in a curricular barrier that is often felt before it is named. The beginning of the school year or fall program season shifts from, “I’m excited to make a difference in my students’ lives,” to “Why can’t these kids \_\_\_\_\_?” This disillusionment stems from grieving the loss of hope that every student will meet expectations within our educational organizations. As an educator, I have felt the despair that comes from realizing that my professional education and experience may not be enough to meet the diverse needs of students in my classroom. This despair feels like 25-pound weights stacked upon my chest while climbing 10 flights of stairs. It feels like I cannot escape the deep sadness of realizing that my individual contributions, although noble and effective, are not enough to move the needle forward for students who were failed by multiple institutions and systems. When I was an early career educator, years 0-5, my disillusionment shifted from despair to a deficit mindset that was reinforced by a culture of deficit culture in the schools where I taught. I was reinforced by a deficit culture when I heard colleagues and leaders make statements like, “Why even try when you know this student cannot do this?” I saw my colleagues and leaders inflate students’ grades to make them appear like they passed coursework they legitimately could not succeed in year after year. I began thinking, if this is the norm/culture where I work, I guess this must be the way I must think and act just to survive in the profession of education. However, there was a spirit of resistance brewing inside of me saying, “No, your students are worthy and deserving of the best I can offer.” This spirit of resistance came from small acts of service when I told a student, “I knew you could do this.” I realized that believing in the possibility of all students was not only the antidote to my feelings of disillusionment and deficit thinking, it was the beginning of me learning and teaching my colleagues to implement neuro-affirming and culturally relevant practices to see the brilliance and possibility in all students. Seeing the brilliance in all students, particularly neurodivergent students of color who experience the world through the lenses of a disability and race, reinvigorated my passion for the profession of education, exposed me to new ways of thinking and being, and increased my impact for the students I taught and the educators I coached or trained. # The Problem Runs Deep The curricular barrier of a deficit mindset and culture is destructive and intrudes on our students’ educational and human rights. Just imagine being denied opportunities to develop and flourish because of the color of your skin or your disability status when you are just as capable as anyone else in your peer group. A deficit mindset and culture in educational organizations creates a gatekeeping system where students who are privileged because of their race and neurotypical development receive better opportunities than other students with the same worthiness and brilliance who are neurodivergent students of color. This gatekeeping system must be dismantled and called out at every level of education. The curricular barrier of deficit mindsets and cultures reminds me of what my deceased grandmother, Carolyn, said to me as a child: “Dangerous thoughts can lead someone to do dangerous things.” I did not understand this statement at 10 years old, but after 17 years in education, I know her statement as truth. What is at the core of deficit mindsets and cultures within educational organizations? There are 3 roots anchoring educational professionals and caregivers in deficit mindsets and cultures. - **Personal Bias** - Everyone has biases-beliefs and ways of being-that influence how they interact with others and their environment. If educational professionals and caregivers believe neurodivergent students of color cannot read proficiently, they may not recommend them for debate club or a book club. This is just one of the myriad of examples of how personal biases anchor educational professionals and caregivers tether themselves to deficit mindsets and cultures. - **Delusion -** Delusion is the next root in deficit mindsets and cultures because educational professionals and caregivers ground themselves in false beliefs as opposed to the realities of their students. This looks and sounds like adults overestimating students’ emotional and cognitive capacity based upon their grade-level or age-level versus what the student communicates or demonstrates in real-time. This looks and sounds like adults underestimating the academic readiness of neurodivergent students of color for advanced learning coursework and opportunities based upon their disability category or diagnosis. - **Denial** - Denial is the last stake holding together deficit mindsets and cultures. Denial is the last stage of this curricular barrier because adults begin and continue to deny opportunities to students based upon their racial identities and disability status. This looks like denying a student with an orthopedic/physical disability the opportunity to attend a field trip to a local farm to learn more about agricultural sciences because the educational professionals or caregiver thought this students’ neurodivergence would prevent them from learning much from this opportunity. # You Are Already A Change Maker Personal biases, delusional thinking, and the denial of opportunities, rights, and resources are dehumanizing and destructive. They both reinforce deficit mindsets and culture and stifle students who are worthy and deserving of the best adults can offer them. There are some ways to actively work against deficit mindsets and cultures in your educational organization and at home. I am going to share this mindset shift with you. It costs you $0, and the return on the investment is greater than what you deposited. Start acknowledging and celebrating your students’ strengths. Begin searching for your students’ strengths like children search the couch for coins to go to the corner store to buy a bag of chips. I recommend you acknowledge and celebrate your students’ strengths in any setting and at any given time of the day. You might be surprised at what you notice about your students. You might notice that your student who does not consistently speak with her peers may be a great classroom librarian with great visual-spatial skills to organize books on your library’s shelves. You might notice that your students who are talkative might be great co-regulation buddies to support their peers who struggle with self-regulation. You might notice that you begin to feel lighter and more hopeful because you are making the intentional choice to acknowledge, accept, and celebrate instead of falling into despair, disillusionment, delusional mindsets and cultures, and denying students opportunities and their dignity. At the human level, we all want to feel like we matter and belong and that we can positively contribute to our community. Yes, even the student who throws a chair across a classroom wants to feel like he matters and needs yearns to receive praise for his positive contributions to your learning community. # You Are Not Alone It is not too late to make this shift within your educational organization. At Realized Curriculum Solutions, we help schools and educational organizations improve outcomes for neurodivergent students of color by removing the barriers that get in the way of learning. We support our partners by revealing the curricular barriers that harm students, remove those barriers through curriculum consulting, instructional coaching, professional development, and leadership coaching, and realize long-lasting positive impact for students through a partnership grounded in the possibility of every student, especially neurodivergent students of color. If you’re interested in shifting from deficit mindsets and cultures to neuro-affirming and culturally relevant mindsets and cultures that increase the academic outcomes of your students watch our webinar entitled *Revealing Curricular Barriers That Harm Neurodivergent Students of Color* at [https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/revealing-curricular-barriers](https://realizedsolutionsllc.com/revealing-curricular-barriers?hsLang=en). 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